University of St. Thomas Athletics
5-14-2, 2-12-1
Minnesota
16-5-1, 10-4-1
Tommies comeback comes up short at #3 Minnesota
1/10/2025 8:48:00 PM | Women's Hockey
MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. – The University of St. Thomas women's hockey team officially kicked off the second half of the 2024-25 season. The Tommies faced a familiar opponent in their first Western Collegiate Hockey Assocaition (WCHA) game of 2025, as they traveled over the river and not so through the woods to take on the #3 University of Minnesota Golden Gophers. Trailing 3-0 after two periods, it looked like St. Thomas might suffer another shutout against the nationally ranked Gophers, but the Tommies furious third period rally pulled them within one with five minutes remaining in regulation. St. Thomas could not score the equalizer, falling to Minnesota by a final score of 4-2. With the loss, the Tommies are now 5-14-2 overall and 2-12-1 in WCHA play.
RECAP:
St. Thomas had an early advantage against Minnesota, as Gopher star Abbey Murphy was sent to the penalty box for body checking one minute into the game. Despite grade A chances, and some outstanding shots from Ella Boerger (Andover, Minn. / Andover) and Nicole Vallario (Lugano, Switzerland / SPSE TENERO), the Tommies came up empty on their first power play of the night. In fact, it was St. Thomas that generated the early offensive scoring changes, as the Tommies outshot the Gophers 3-0 through the first five minutes of play.
Minnesota was not kept out of the offensive zone for long, as a Rylee Bartz (Fargo, N.D. / Warroad) penalty gave the Gophers a skater advantage at 5:41 in the first. However, Dani Strom (Dayton, Minn. / Maple Grove) and the St. Thomas defense held firm, stopping three Gopher shots to preserve a scoreless 0-0 draw. That score would hold until the end of the first period, with Minnesota holding a 14-7 shot advantage over the Tommies after the first 20 minutes of play.
The Gophers eventually scored the first goal of the game at 4:44 in the second period, as Audrey Wethington snuck one past Strom to score her first power play goal of the season. St. Thomas, though, was not deterred. The Tommies continued to pepper Hannah Clark with shots throughout the second period, coming up with several grade A chances and odd man rushes. St. Thomas also had an opportunity to even the score midway through the second, as a challenge by interim head coach Bethany Brausen resulted in a five minute major for Minnesota. However, the Gophers ended up scoring more than the Tommies during the penalty kill, as Minnesota took a 2-0 lead on a shorthanded goal by Ava Lindsay.
The Gophers added another goal before the end of the second, taking a 3-0 lead into the third period. St. Thomas may have been down, but the Tommies were never out. Despite missing out on an early power play opportunity, Nora Sauer (Andover, Minn. / Andover) eventually found the back of the net at 5:37, pulling St. Thomas within two at 3-1 with the first collegiate goal of her Tommie career.
St. Thomas wasn't done scoring. With Abbey Murphy and Ella Huber in the box, the Tommies went on the offensive, and it was Maddy Clough (Andover, Minn. / Andover), in her 125th career game, who cut the Minnesota lead to one. After Clark made an initial save through traffic, Clough punished the first year netminder for the rebound, scoring her fourth goal of the season to cut the Gopher lead to 3-2 with just under 10 minutes remaining in regulation.
Down one with 9:58 left in the game, St. Thomas searched for the equalizer, peppering Clark with shot after shot after shot. However, the Gopher goalie and defense held firm, and Ellah Hause (Forest Lake, Minn. / Hill-Murray) was called for roughing with 2:07 remaining in regulation. While the Tommies were able to pull Strom to get back to even strength, Minnesota scored an empty netter with 22.3 remaining to secure its 4-2 victory.
TOP TOMMIES
- Nora Sauer (Andover, Minn. / Andover) scored the first goal of her collegiate career with St. Thomas, bringing her career point total to four in 12 games played. Maddy Clough (Andover, Minn. / Andover) also scored for the Tommies Friday evening, scoring her 13th career goal in her 125th game played.
- Dani Strom (Dayton, Minn. / Maple Grove) faced 31 shots and made 28 saves Friday evening. The St. Thomas defense also blocked 17 shots including eight by sophomore Ellah Hause (Forest Lake, Minn. / Hill-Murray).
UP NEXT
The Tommies will be back in action on Saturday, as they take on the same #3 Minnesota Gophers for the final time in the regular season. Puck drop is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
